Attitude or Gratitude?

Last week, we had a beautiful red poodle come to the shop for grooming.  On the larger side of mini, Lily is a deep, rich red and has an incredible coat.  She is a sweet, mild-mannered girl and it was her third visit to our salon.  On her first visit, she was very matted.  She was at that 10-12 month point when she was shedding puppy coat and we gave her a short haircut.  I believe it was a 4f strip, round face, full muzzle.  She looked adorable, even that short.

Second visit, which was well past the time frame we suggested to the owner, she was quite matted again, but not as badly, so we used a 4f on the body and dematted and posted the legs.  She was gorgeous again, but required more time, due to the dematting.

Third visit, which was 3 1/2 months from her last appoinment, she was in decent shape, but her coat was extremely long, and the owner was adamant that we scissor her whole body and leave her as full as possible.  Who knows what her fourth visit will require.  Oh, wait...  There won't be a fourth visit.  Why, you ask?
 
First thing in the morning, before we even had the dog in our care, the young woman that brought her in spoke to me very disrespectfully.  It honestly took me aback a bit, as I'm used to having a pretty loving groove with my clientele.  I took a deep breath, let her know what time to come and when she said "Thank you" with a rigid tone, I simply remained quiet.  It was just too early to handle bad energy.
 
The groomer did an exquisite job on Lily.  She could've taken a prize at any grooming contest ( I know, I'm biased).   I left work around 4:00 to hit the Lowe's down the street for supplies and a few odds and ends.  What ensued after I left is a fine example of human beings at their worst, I believe.  When the owner returned, she brought along her very imposing father and as soon as they walked through the door, my assistant could feel the bad mojo. 

When  she was told the price for the grooming, the scene got very ugly, very quickly, to the point that she used very hurtful expletives directed at my grooming manager, who did hold it together for quite some time; however, when the father began yelling, that was it.  "If you're going to yell at me, I'm gonna yell right back,"  she said. Surprisingly, he got very quiet after that, I'm guessing never had a woman stand up to him quite to this degree.  Well, needless to say, they've been fired as customers.  Good luck to the next groomer.  I wish I could give them fair warning.
 
This situation has left me feeling very grateful, in some ways.  I once read that 97 percent of customers are fairly easy transactions in the service industry–'non-event' customers, if you will.  They come in, do business, and go on their merry way.  I think my percentage may even be just a little higher, believe it or not.  I think we're pushing 98-99 percent in my store.  It is a great place to be, with great energy all around most of the time.  So, from this unfortunate incident, I feel so blessed to know that it is the exception and not even close to the rule.
 
Another thing this got me thinking about is the importance of quotes and how to approach them when it comes to grooming.  We won't give any exact quotes over the phone.  When we meet a dog, certainly we can size up the job and share that with the owner, but not until we see and feel a dog's coat will we get specific.  In this case, I assumed, silly me, that an owner would know a hand-scissored dog would be more than a clippered dog.  That was a big mistake, and one I rarely make, but I did not explain the cost difference in the morning.  I think I was too taken aback by the poor behavior at 8:00 am.  It seems common sense to me, but apparently not. 

Let's think about human hair services for a moment.  If you go in and get a shampoo and cut, no blow dry, it will be one charge.  If you return in six weeks and add in a highlight and blow dry, the price will go up.  If you decide to add extensions on the follwing visit and hit the wax room, it's going to be subtantially more, correct?  Why then, as groomers, do people expect us to do more work for the same price, or even less money for more work, like when a customer wants a multi-dog discount.  So, we get to groom three dogs, but they pay less for each added pet? 

I've never understood discounting labor, and I'll never do it.  We simply work too hard. 

Back to the issue of pricing...  The first time this dog came in, we shaved her.  The second visit was a shave on the body, some dematting and scissoring the legs.  The third visit was a hand-scissored haircut.  I suppose I will have to be more clear about quotes and explaining to owners why different services have varying charges.  I guess I did that 'assume' thing that you're never suppose to do.
 
And if you're wondering if they paid... you betcha'!